


About episode 4x01: The New Abnormal (Meta)

by LouiseLouise



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 9-1-1 s04e01 - Freeform, F/M, Gen, Mention of the 2020 pandemic, Mentions of all the characters who appears in the episode, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28901154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouiseLouise/pseuds/LouiseLouise
Summary: My thoughts about episode 4x01 "The New Abnormal"
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	About episode 4x01: The New Abnormal (Meta)

**Author's Note:**

> **This is not a spoiler free review!**
> 
> Thank you [marciaelena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marciaelena) for the beta! All remaining mistakes are mine, English is not my first language.

After such an unexpectedly long hiatus, and months spent rewatching the first three seasons, it felt very strange to have new stories to watch. But damn, did it feel GOOD.

**Previously on**

So we catch up with our favourite first responders in just two scenes.

First, the call between the Hans and the Buckleys, who update us on what they’ve been up to these past months, including Hen and Eddie by proxy. The writing incorporates the pandemic with humour, realism, and a hint of worry, as Maddie doesn’t seem happy being away from Chim.

His concerns about keeping Maddie and the baby safe seem valid, no matter what Hen and Eddie have decided for themselves and their own kids. He’s scared and he wants to protect his family. But he’s also leaving his partner to go through important changes on her own (no offense, Albert, but you’re not the Han she needs right now), whether it’s the pregnancy, or the pandemic, or being pregnant through a pandemic, while being a first responder like him and dealing with all the bad things they experience on a daily basis. Maddie smiles, but she’s scared, too.

Somehow, Chim seems to be making the same mistakes Eddie made with Shannon, and I hope it takes him less time to get his shit together.

Then we move to Athena on her first day back since her ‘injury’ (her words). She looks like her usual self, reassuring and strong, bantering with Bobby, being adorable with Michael and Harry. But like Maddie, she’s not voicing everything about her fears. I love that we get to see her go through that, and I can’t wait to see how it goes, how she’s gonna face her struggles. And survive that landslide too.

I also love how both Hen and Bobby, like Chim before them, don’t see past the façade. They couldn’t be more wrong about how Athena’s doing, and I’m curious to see how that will play out.

The one thing I dislike about that scene is that David’s work as a doctor makes him a risk for Michael, a cancer patient that by the end of season 3 was not even in remission. Whether he’s living with him (and Harry) or just visiting, I don’t think it’s wise.

**New habits**

I like how the show handled incorporating the pandemic into every day scenes and emergency calls, with small details like masks and hand sanitizing, along with that intro from the news anchor and the safe distancing present here and there.

Well, now the 4x01 timeline doesn’t match the one in 3x18, but I don’t think I mind that much? I think my mind can easily gloss over it, as long as I don’t try writing some fic that takes place in that in-between period of time.

With the exception of Janell, the bike lady, the virus isn’t the center of attention, and to me that’s a good balance, acknowledging the state of the world without making it too dark for viewers who are probably mostly here to escape said real world.

So the calls, like the personal scenes, just include the virus and how it changed our way of life without dwelling on it for too long. It’s realistic, it makes us relate, and it doesn’t need to be explained because we’re all living that “new abnormal”.

**That does not go there**

In the same way that Ali was the show’s way of talking about the MeToo movement in 2x02, here we have another peek at sexism in the workplace. In contrast with season 2, the guy didn’t die (unlike Ali’s boss), probably because he recognized his mistake, just in time? I also expected the bus guy to die, because he fit the profile of assholes who die on this show, but once again he lived, and learned.

The end of the bus incident was maybe a little underwhelming, the explosion seemed hyped up but without much damage or consequences. Which is good, okay? But it still felt like a let down. A little.

I guess the writers were saving the heartbreak for later.

**Janell**

I love how Janell is introduced, with a news anchor voice-over, that chirpy song, and wearing pink... she first looks like the cliché housewife who took advantage of the quarantine to Konmari her closet and bake bread (no judgment here, though, we all dealt as best as we could). And she may have been all that, at some point, but she’s in fact so much more.

Her husband is the only death we see on screen (though in the past), representing the lives lost to the virus, reminding us that not everyone made it through.

It’s unfair and sad, and it’s a story of both loss and hope, of unexpected tragedies and how we adapt. Adapt to the pandemic, adapt to the loss, adapt to life going on.

I loved how the show made us care about her story in such a short time.

**How much worse can it get?**

The episode was full of typical “2020 mood” little moments. Humour, sarcasm, things we could’ve heard in real life. Small instants to alleviate the tension, but still grounding us in the reality of the year.

Like the DWP guy that we’ve seen before in 2x01, with both “They’re microquakes, they’re small” and “It’s September, how much worse can it get”. (Please let that man get out of this mess alive. Please?)

I loved the parallel between Hen’s question to Tracy, “Do you know what year it is?” / “Don’t make me say it out loud”, and Chimney’s “Can you tell me who the President is?” / “Come on, do I have to?” from 2x07.

And the perfectly timed “No, I’m not throwing you under the bus”.

Maddie’s attempt at a duet joke and May having none of it.

And on a darker side of the humour range, Eddie’s “At least it’s not a tsunami” sounds like a perfect 2020 mood, because after all this year’s thrown at people, why wouldn’t there be a bus in a building, you know? Okay, it might sound a little tactless saying that to Buck, but that’s how Eddie often is with him, anyway.

Also, in that moment it’s ‘just’ a bus in a building and not a landslide, so for a man who spent months dealing with being a first responder, separated from his son and probably constantly worried about him and his entire family... dark humour sounds like a good coping mechanism.

**Overall**

This episode went by so quickly, and was so busy, it left me wanting more. Which was the point, I know! And a good thing, too!

I would’ve loved to see more of Eddie, who’s the only character who doesn’t get screen time with some personal moment, but I understand the narrative choice to put focus on others, like Maddie/Chim, and Athena, who I guess are gonna have the first arcs we follow this season.

Prior to this season, I thought that intro episode to new seasons, like 2x01 and 3x01, were a bit of a waste of time and we should just dive right into the heart of the natural disaster of their choosing, but I think it might’ve been a good thing to give us more time to reconnect with the characters. Though this year it may have meant more time spent on the pandemic, and I’m not sure that would’ve been better. Even if I would’ve loved seeing how Hen, Eddie and Chim all lived at Buck’s place for a few months!

But we had enough to reconnect with the characters and open new storylines.

We had humour to lighten up the pandemic/disaster combo.

And we had heartbreak, because that’s what the show does best.

We had Buck and his fluffy hair, smiling, almost glowing and looking relaxed, being his usual curious self checking facts about disasters and rappelling down buildings... I couldn’t love him more.

So honestly, I’m happy with the episode, and excited to see where this season goes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this meta! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode! (just keep in mind that I try to avoid spoilers for upcoming episodes, if you want to comment)
> 
> You can find it [on tumblr](https://theladyandthewolves.tumblr.com/post/640954980109598720/about-4x01-the-new-abnormal-meta).
> 
> Like always, I treasure every kudos, emoji and comment ♥


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